ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College volleyball team was triumphant on Friday night, October 29 after rolling to a 3-0 shutout victory, 25-21, 25-17, 25-10, over SUNY Oneonta at Ben Light Gymnasium. The Bombers improve to 15-11 on the season, while the Red Dragons dip to 4-18 with the road defeat. It was Senior Night for IC, as the team recognized Jordyn Lyn Hayashi, Alison Lipton, Elli Gaskill, Jaelyn Hershberger, Laura Severance, and Paris Buckner during the pregame ceremony for their notable careers on the court representing the blue and white.
The Bombers played well within the structure of head coach Johan Dulfer's offense, dialing up 51 kills and eight blocks in the match. IC outhit Oneonta .371 to .170 on the night as well. IC now extends its winning streak to four games against the Red Dragons, dating back to 2015.
Hershberger has been as advertised this season, as she had herself a day in the scoring department with a team-high 14 kills to go along with an ultra-efficient .684 hitting percentage. The outside hitter now leads the team with 216 kills on the season.
Lipton was a game-wrecker too, racking up 10 kills in addition to a .529 hitting percentage from the outside. Buckner pieced together a sound performance in Friday's win, exemplified by her five kills and two service aces.
Ithaca was as composed as can be in the opening set, jumping out to a 15-8 lead in the early stages of action. Oneonta began to mount a late comeback to cut the deficit to 22-20, but Lipton's kill on the final play put the nail in the coffin to seal the first set for IC. Hershberger was the engine of Ithaca's attack, leading the unit with five kills in the frame.
That level of play remained in the second set with the Bombers climbing to a comfortable 12-3 lead. Moments later, Oneonta fired off a 6-0 run to close the gap and make it a 12-9 match. Ithaca did not falter, however, as the team stormed to an 8-2 run to clinch the set 25-17.
The Bombers finished strong, hitting at an impressive .433 clip with 16 kills in the final set. Ithaca went on an offensive warpath from the get-go, marching to a decisive 16-4 lead in the blink of an eye. From there, the team put the clamps on Oneonta's offense while going on a 10-6 run that ended with a Jennifer Pitts kill to put the match away.
Ithaca College returns home for its final regular season test when the team welcomes SUNY Brockport and No. 12 New York University for a tri-match tomorrow afternoon, October 30 at Ben Light Gymnasium. First serve for the opening match is slated to begin at 11 a.m.
